Claudio Stern

Claudio Stern's studies the processes that establish cell diversity and pattern at early stages of development in vertebrate embryos. He mainly uses chick embryos as a model system but with the aim of uncovering general principles applicable to all higher animals including humans. The main areas of research aim to uncover mechanisms that control embryo polarity and twinning, neural induction and somite formation. 

Born in Uruguay, Claudio Stern studied Biology at Sussex University in the UK, then a postdoc at University College London, and after a brief stint as University Demonstrator in Cambridge he became a Lecturer in Oxford. In 1994 he was appointed Professor and Chair of Genetics and Development at Columbia University, New York, and in 2001 he returned to the UK to head the department of Anatomy (now Cell and Developmental Biology) at UCL. He has been honoured with elections as Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) and EMBO among others, and awards like the Waddington Medal (British Society for Developmental Biology) and the Ross G. Harrison medal (International Society for Develompental Biology).